The Irish standard., 1887-06-04
INTERESTING STATISTICS.
The Reign of Victoria Has Been the
Most Disastrous for Ireland Since
the Reign of Queen Elizabeth.
FIGURES ARE DEADLY FACTS
And are the Strongest Possible In
dictment of British Rule
in Ireland.

dictment of British Rule
in Ireland.
The we'll statistician, Mr.. Null
hall. F. s. S., author of the "Diction-
ary of Statistics" has written volume
of statistics which has been issued in
honor of Queen Victoria's Jubilee. 1t is
entitled, ''Fifty Years of National Pro-
gress," and furnishes some exceedingly
interesting figures as to the progress"
Ireland has made during Queen Vic
soria's long reign. Turning to page ia
we find a chapter on Ireland which opens
with this startling declaration:-"The
present reign has been the most disas
trous since the reign of Elizabeth. {"
Those who have any knowledge of Irish
history will not need to be told what
was Ireland's condition under Eliza
beth, whose representative in that
country could truthfully boast that he
had left it a wilderness of corpses and
ashes. The statistics Mr.. Mulhall sup
plies show that Queen Victoria's repre-
sentatives at Dublin Castle have done
all they could to perpetuate the policy
that prevailed under Elizabeth.
Here are some figures that tell their
owl story. During Queen Victoria's
reign there have died of famine in Ire
land 1,225,000 men, women and chill
dron. During the same period there
were evicted 3,668,O00 persons. 1885,
600 were forced to emigrate; that is to
flee from the land of their birth and
love as if it were a pest house. The
statistician does not follow these fleeing
millions into the emigrant ship and tell
of the terrible rayages of fever. The
bleached bones of the unco6ned forms
of the victims of British rule in Ireland
that line the bottom of the Atlantic are
England's accusers. There they lie
mute witnesses of the "blessings'' the
Irish people have enjoyed under the
rule of the English Queen whose jubi-
lee will be celebrated by a coercion act
that is intended to aid the landlords in
their savage war on the Irish people.
Forty years ago when a landlord
made famine swept over Ireland and
left in its track a terrible holocaust a
coercion act was force. 1t was passed
at the dictation of the landlords just as
the jubilee coercion act is about to be
passed at the dictatlon of the same
class. Coercion Acts are useful to land
lords, because they enable them to col
lect their rack-rents with greater ease.
When the landlords victims are re-
duced to absolute beggary through his
exactions they will be less liable to re-
sist evictions, as their spirit will be
broken and they will not feel disposed
to defend their homes as brave men
ought to. This is the way the land
lords argue. Coercion is only valuable
in their estimation as the precursor of
the Crowbar Brigade. 1t is now as it
was forty years ago, when the landlords
hailed the famine as a valuable ally.
"Evictions," writes Mr.. Mulhall, ''were
most numerous Immediately after the
famine. the landlords availing them
selves of the gretest calamity to enforce
their rights.'''
The Plan of Campaign serves as a
shield to protect the Irish people from
the attacks of landlordism. Strike
down that shield and there will be moth
ing between them and all the horrors OF
eviction. Now, the Jubilee Coercion
Act is especially, directed against the
Plan of Campaign. If the Irish people
are deprived of this defense the old Or
der of things would be restored and the
landlords would be rendered happy as
they would be again able to collect their
rack-rents. The Eviction Campaign
would be resumed with renewed vieor.
Again would the Irish nation be
brought face to face with grim famine.
Again would the emigrant ship be
crowded. Again would thousands of
graves yawn to receive the starved vic
tins of landlordism. Again would
British claw and order'' be vindicated.
No wonder the landlords are anxious
that the Jubilee Coercion Act should
pass.
But to return to Mr.. Mulhall's jubi-
lee statistics. He gives figures show
ing that since Queen Victoria ascended
the throne the number of persons evict-
ed is equal to Is per cent of the present
population of Ireland. The emigration
during the same period is "a per cent OF
the present population. The loss Ire
land has sustained bv the forced expa-
triation of her wealth producers is thus
described by the eminent statistician
who furnishes these figures. mo
country either in Europe or elsewhs re-
writes Mr.. Mulhall, .'has suffered such
Wholesale determination. Existing
Irish settlements abroad and the. estim1- tin
sated wealth ii their: :possesssio ongshotW'E hoy q
3that the buI we're.